Known communication centers include racks or cabinets with a number of active components. These communication centers, for example, connect a number of personal computers into a local area network. The personal computers connect in various ways to a communication system "backbone," which, as the name implies, provides the major communication link within the network. The rack-type installation or "wiring closet" is usually located within a closet or some other out-of-the-way space such as a utility room.
Wiring closets are expensive and require a substantial amount of space. Further, their installation requires skilled labor, and this alone raises their cost.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a communication center that requires a minimum of space and need not be located within its own dedicated closet. Such a system should require a minimum of time and skill in its installation.
Wiring cabinets are less expensive than wiring closets and can be installed in hallways. These cabinet-type installations are less labor intensive to install and maintain than wiring closets, but the large size of existing communications boxes and the complexity of wiring makes cabinet-type installations only an interim solution in the trend to install small, distributed-wiring centers.
It would therefore also be advantageous to provide a communication center that reduces the size of communications boxes and simplifies the wiring of the center.
In some known communications systems, a single conductor from each workstation or personal computer connects to its own plug at the rack o cabinet. This plug communicates directly with the backbone to communicate with the other elements in the system. This wiring scheme is expensive and is rather labor intensive, requiring a manual plugging operation for each workstation or personal computer in the network.
It would therefore also be advantageous to provide a communication center that simultaneously furnishes a number of connections for system stations. As used herein, the term "station" refers to a personal computer, workstation, or other device that is connected to a network.